


Christmas Spirits (of the alcoholic variety)

by godsamitdean



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pining Dean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 11:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3065939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godsamitdean/pseuds/godsamitdean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For fairy911911 in the DeanCas Secret Santa exchange. Combination of the following prompts (but mostly the third):</p><p>Prompt 1: Dean and Cas are the only ones in the college dorm that didn't go home for christmas break.<br/>Prompt 2: Cas and Dean are roommates and both get jealous when the other one dates.<br/>Prompt 3: Dean's family has been bugging him to bring someone home for the holidays so he asks his best friend Cas to pretend to be his boyfriend and come home with him. They both secretly like the other, and fluffy awkwardness ensues.<br/>College AU. Dean's going to a Christmas party, and he needs a date to prove to his friends that he's over his ex. Asking his roommate Castiel is a temporary fix, but are there deeper feelings lurking?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas Spirits (of the alcoholic variety)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fairy911911](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairy911911/gifts).



> Well, this was way too much fun to write. I set it in the American city of Philadelphia (because the two years I lived there were some of the best years of my life and because there is actually a Christmas Village in LOVE Park, how could I NOT write a fanfic with THAT) and it’s a kind of a combination of the three prompts I was given. I’m sorry for any inaccuracies. And if anyone doesn’t know Data (from Star Trek: TNG), he is mentioned in this. Love and thanks to my amazing beta and friend Maddie, and I hope you enjoy this, fairy911911! Happy Secret Santa!

Deep breath, Winchester. You can do this. 

“Hey Cas,” Dean says casually from his place on the couch. Cas bustles around their tiny kitchen, making something that smells like heaven. Free, delicious cooking all the time is something that Dean has gotten used to since he started rooming with Cas in freshman year. He sniffs again and Cas answers,“Yes, Dean?” Dean shifts, nervous. 

“So there’s this party tonight. At Benny Lafiette’s place. He’s invited a bunch of people, including us. But he’s making me bring a date. To show I’m over Lisa or something.”

Cas looks up then, an open expression on his face. “Oh, do you need me out of the apartment tonight, then? I assure you, I can stay over with Jimmy, if you would like me out of the way afterwards-”

“Ineedyoutocomewithme.” Dean kind of chokes it out, and Cas, understandably, doesn’t understand him. He gives Dean the squinty look he wears when he doesn’t understand what’s going on, and it shouldn’t be cute, but it is. Dean takes a breath and tries again. “I need a date for the party, and everyone except us went home for the holidays. So could you go with me? Just fake it for the night,” he adds quickly. “We wouldn’t actually be dating.”

An unidentifiable expression crosses Cas’s face. “So it wouldn’t actually be a date, just us faking a romantic relationship in order to attend this party and show that you no longer 'like' your ex?” he questions, his face showing clarity before doing what Dean could only describe as wilting. “You do not have any feelings for me?”

Dean blinks. A spark of hope jumps up in his throat at Cas's words. Maybe Cas does like him? Immediately, he shakes the thought away. Probably just Cas being his normal awkward self. “I, I…no,” he lies, forcing the true words back down his throat.That look shadows Cas’s face again, before Cas turns away, back to his vegetables, and says, “Sure.”

Dean blinks yet again. He blinks a lot with Cas; probably because the other man hardly needs to. “Sure. Okay.” He coughs, and inwardly hits himself with a hammer.

* * *

The party is already in full swing by the time they arrive at eleven-ish. Benny is nowhere to be seen, but Andrea, his girlfriend, and Jo, her sister, greet Dean by the door in tight red dresses and heels, complete with little Santa hats. Dean smiles at them, and they eye Cas appreciatively. Dean isn’t not looking, either, as Cas awkwardly shucks off his trench coat and folds it neatly before placing it on the couch by the door.

Cas doesn’t go out often; he says his “people skills” are “rusty,” and he generally tries to avoid human interaction as much as possible, unless it is with sisters or Dean. But tonight, he’s loosened up from his normally formal oxford shirt and suit, in exchange for a blue button-down Dean’s pretty sure is his and artfully distressed jeans, and together with his practically angelic, piercing blue eyes and perpetual sex hair, he looks hot. Like, really hot. Dean is having trouble concentrating on much of anything besides Cas's hotness, but he manages to put his coat on the couch and head in, waving goodbye to Jo and Andrea, who are already greeting the rowdy group of guys who came in behind them.

Loads of people are there, and most of them are already drunk. He sees Lisa, but she doesn’t see him. She’s grinding on a pre-med kid named Matt, and normally this would anger Dean, but he tells himself that he doesn’t feel much of anything. There’s nothing there. She just forgot about him, and he can deal with being forgotten.

It still kind of hurts, though. And he kind of wants to get back at her.

That's why he brought Cas. Yeah, that's why. Not because he actually wants to date his best friend or anything. 

There are non-alcoholic beverages, but Dean grabs a beer because, hey, he’s only underage by, like, a month and it’s not like he’s never drank before. And he can hold his liquor pretty damn well, thank you very much.

Cas grabs a Sam Adams, too. That’s surprising. While Dean’s roommate can down a row of shots without being fazed (and do it legally), Cas rarely drinks. When he catches Dean looking at him, he just shrugs, a "why not?" in his eyes. And Dean has noticed that Cas’s lips around a beer bottle is a very nice thing indeed, and Dean’s mind is getting very filthy right now, but he shakes his head to clear it. He pulls Cas closer to him, and when Cas shoots him a questioning glance, he whispers, “Remember?” Cas’s face clears a bit. He settles into Dean’s side, and Dean shouldn’t enjoy it, but he does. Of course.

Cas makes a comment about a girl in one of his classes that is currently feeling up everyone in reach, and Dean tells him a story about how she once refused to let him into a classroom because someone told someone else that he had said such and such, which she found very offensive. Cas laughs, his nose crinkling a little bit, and Dean’s heart flutters again. Jesus fucking Christ, when did he become a teenage girl? And more importantly, when did he decide he was okay with it?

They stay curled up in a corner like that for a while, trading stories that they’ve never told. Sam would call it the "old fashioned Christmas spirit", but Dean's leaning more towards the alcoholic variety. Either way, Dean’s never been this…relaxed. Especially at a loud, raucous party like this. He blames the alcohol, because it's totally not Cas's arm around him and his lips close to his ear and how normal this feels.

Cas is still tucked into Dean, but they’ve moved to a chair. Cas is practically in Dean’s lap, and Dean might enjoy that a little too much. Cas begins a tale about a cat and a very serious interrogation, and he’s half-wondering how low Cas’s voice is in bed when he hears a familiar voice.

“Oi, Winchester!”

Dean turns at the sound; Cas mimics his movement. Dean grins when he sees Charlie Bradbury making her way towards them, her festive red hair billowing with green ribbons. She’s attracting looks, as usual, and is ignoring them like Beyoncé does haters, also as usual. A pretty brunette is behind her. She looks slightly alarmed at her escort’s determination, and Dean grins. Charlie weaves her way towards them, and when she’s close, Dean lets out a little laugh at what she’s wearing.

Of course the Red Queen would wear a Star Trek themed ugly sweater to a Christmas party.

Dean’s known Charlie since he was little. They grew up together in Kansas, playing video games and reading Vonnegut, going to cons and LARPing, and later, joining the GSA together in high school. When Dean left Lawrence to go to UPenn, Charlie followed a year later. They don’t see each other a lot, but they talk all the time. And Charlie’s never met Cas.

“What’s up bitches?” Charlie laughs. She’s already holding a glass of eggnog with red sprinkles on top, and her cheeks are flushed with excitement. Her cheer is infectious, and Dean feels the last of his tension drain away. Cas relaxes minutely, too. Charlie has that effect.

“Not much, Scotty,” Dean jokes. He smiles at the girl, who is still standing next to Charlie. Unlike most of the other girls, who are drunk in tiny Santa outfits (not that there’s anything wrong with that, normally Dean's all over that), Charlie's friend's large brown eyes are clear and assessing, and her white dress more classy than skimpy. Dean instantly likes her. “And who might this be?” He speaks to Charlie but winks to the other girl, and he can practically _feel_ the eye roll. She sticks out her hand, and Dean stands up to shake it.

“I’m Dorothy,” she states simply. She leans in to the side of Dean that Cas isn’t leaning on and whispers, “Don’t try anything. I have a knife and if you try to take me away from the very hot, very willing girl next to me, I will stab you.”

Dean can’t help it: he cracks up. Charlie looks confused, but laughs too, Dorothy is wearing a smirk, and Cas is doing the squinty thing again. It makes Dean laugh all over again. He straightens up, well, as much as he can, and says, “I like her. You can keep this one.”

Charlie flips her hair defiantly. “I didn’t know that you had to A-OK my girlfriends, Dean, but fine. I’ll return the favor. Who is this handsome fellow?” She turns to Cas, who shifts. He’s still leaning against Dean’s side.

“I’m Castiel, Dean’s boyfriend. It is very nice to meet you. Dean has spoken of you often,” Cas says, and offers his hand. Dean tries to ignore the little thrill that runs through him at the sound of those words. But instead of grabbing Cas’s hand and pumping it enthusiastically, the way she normally does with new people, Charlie’s jaw drops to her knees and she ignores it completely. Dean’s stomach drops unpleasantly. Uh oh.

Charlie moves forward, staring at Cas with her mouth still open. “You’re Cas? _The_ Cas? The one that Dean’s been pining over for, like, years?”

Dean groans. He’s screwed.

Cas is confused and tries to say something, but Charlie keeps right on talking, right after shoving her eggnog into Cas’s (still outstretched) hand. “Hmm, I’m not into men, but I approve, in an...aesthetic way. Dean’s right. You _are_ dreamy. He said that a lot, you know, especially when you went on dates with that Meg girl or that Balthazar guy. He always got kind of, I don't know, internally frustrated then. Punched stuff. But Dean said you wore a trench coat, and that made you look like John Constantine, who Dean also totally is in love with. Where’s your trench coat?”

Dean tries to butt in here, a tentative, embarrassed, “Hey, Charlie?” escaping his lips, but Charlie is on a roll. Cas’s face is growing redder by the second, and Dorothy is trying to hide a smile at her girlfriend’s exuberance, but Charlie doesn’t notice anything. “Dean called you ‘blessed by the God of accountant sexiness,’ but he also said hellblazer hot. I believe his exact words were, “he’s so hot that he could walk into Hell and set the fucking FIRE on fire. Charlie, I’ve got it baaaaaaaaaad.’” She bleats the last word, and Dorothy is openly cracking up, and Cas is the color of the aforementioned fire, and Dean is burning, too. “Oh wait!”Charlie exclaims. She pats her jeans pocket before she moves to her sweater, and she’s off again as soon as she starts.

“I’m sorry, I’m rambling,” she says as she’s digging through her pocket (of course her nerd sweater has pockets), “but have you seen _Star Trek: Next Generation?_ Dean says you’re basically Data, like with the whole ‘not understanding humanity’ thing, but you have to be good at video games to do that, and he says that the most technologically advanced thing you can manage is Outlook, so we’ll have to see. Oh, here it is! Sorry about this, but I need documentation.” She pulls out her phone and moves to take a picture, but before she can say any more, Dean pulls her away with a “We need to talk. Now.” He casts one last look at Cas before running off, towing the indignant Charlie behind him.

He pulls her onto the balcony and barely shuts the door before he hisses, “Why did you do that?” He stares in anger, Charlie still holding her phone. She tosses her hair and stares back. She is acting like Cas in this moment, all defiance and stubbornness, but the look is so different on each of them that it throws Dean off. He turns away and repeats, “Why did you DO that?” He scrubs his face with his hand in anguish and paces. Charlie looks amused.

“Dean, everything I said was true. You’ve been angsting over him since freshman year. God, it's like a freaking fanfic. You’re a senior, and he’s leaving in a few months. You had to act soon, and I’m glad you did.”

Dean turned to her. “That’s not the PROBLEM!” he half screeches, and he glares so hard that Charlie raises an eyebrow. “Was it the embarrassment?” she asks. “Because it’s my job, you know, as the little sister you never wanted-”

“We’re not actually dating!” Dean yells.

Charlie doesn’t understand at first. “Okay, so it’s your first date. So what? He’ll think it’s cute. Dorothy said that she-”

Dean turns on her. “I mean, we’re not actually dating, as in this is not a date, as in I asked him to fake being my boyfriend for the night so I could show Lisa that I’m over her.”

Charlie’s mouth forms an O, and he can hear the gears grind to a halt in her brain. She’s over to him in a second, spilling out “I’m sorry”s and “Oh my God”s and “I promise, I’ll fix this,” but Dean just pushes her away. He leans on the railing and stares out at the city. Philadelphia. The city of brotherly love. He wishes damn hard that the love Castiel had for him wasn’t brotherly.

“Dean,” Charlie said tentatively. He refuses to look at her, instead gazing out at Love Park. Benny’s family is mysteriously loaded (something about pirates, Dean doesn't really want to know), and his apartment is huge and overlooks JFK Boulevard. The Christmas Village is in full swing, and the square is crowded with people and lights, little huts circling a gigantic Christmas tree.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean can see his friend smile gently. “But you really do like him. You talk about him all the time. And Dean, if you didn’t need to fake a date, you would have asked him out anyway. I know.” Charlie's face is unusually soft, and she sets a hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t egg you on if I didn’t think that he wasn’t interested.”

The sudden change throws Dean off, and he blinks, like, fourteen times before turning back to Charlie. “Really?” he asks hesitantly. He feels vulnerable, in a way he’s never felt before. He’s thinking about what he feels, and it’s terrifying, and he doesn't like it, but there’s a tiny speck of hope somewhere in the insecurity and self-hatred, that for some reason Cas likes Dean just as much as he likes, no, loves, him.

Charlie smiles wider. “Dean, I only had five seconds to assess him, and most of that was me blabbering, but he looks at you like you hung the moon. I assure you, my gaydar is fully functional, and he definitely likes you, if not more.”

Dean blinks again, and he’s lurching into a new idea of what could have been happening if he had pulled his head out of his ass, if Charlie's assessment was right. Date nights at that Greek place on South (it’s a hike, but Cas loves it so much) and going to the huge central library after Dean gets off work at the Franklin Institute and everything is whirling and then he remembers.

He ditched Cas.

Fuck.

He spins and grabs Charlie by the arms. “Can I fix this?” he asks frantically, and she’s smiling so wide, and nodding, and Dean is still not convinced, so Charlie grabs him back and pushes him away towards the door, outright laughing now. “Go get your man,” she yells, “and merry Christmas!”

Dean allows himself to smile back before he runs inside again, and Cas isn’t where he left him. Dorothy says he left, and Dean panics. He runs to the coat couch, and sure enough, Cas’s familiar trench coat is nowhere to be seen. He grabs his own leather jacket and runs into the hallway, and yells for Cas, but no response is heard.

The elevator is on the first floor when he hits the down button, and the entire time he waits he is thinking, “Oh my god what if he doesn’t like me what’s going to happen why” and his brain is a mess when there’s a little “ding” and he steps inside. It’s a nice elevator, mirrored and gold, with marble everywhere, but Dean only has eyes for the little display on the wall, counting down the floors from thirty-five to one. When it dings again, he runs out, past the doorman, onto the sidewalk, and there he is.

Cas is walking through Christmas Village to the subway stop with his head down, coat whipping around him in the brumal air like a cape on a superhero, but he looks…kind of broken? His posture is wrong, his walk is offbeat, and Dean runs to catch up. He nearly gets run over, for which he receives an irritated honk. Dean just flips the guy off. Fucking Philly drivers. He yells Cas’s name, but he doesn’t hear. He yells again, and this time Castiel turns.

Cas looks like a rock, his face is so stony. Dean’s heart lurches in his chest, and he skids to a stop in front of the other man, panting. Cas is just staring at him in the light of the Christmas tree behind the statue, waiting for him to speak. Dean opens his mouth, then shuts it. What is he supposed to say? He stares back at Cas, willing the words to just make themselves exist.

The red light from the statue behind Cas is making an unholy halo around his head, and Dean feels like Cas deserves something brighter, and whiter, and pure, not just red and dirty, and he knew this was a bad idea and Cas doesn’t like someone like him and now their friendship is fucked.

Cas sighs, and turns to go, and Dean’s stomach ties itself in a knot, and before he knows what he’s doing, he’s got Cas’s arm and he’s turning him towards himself. Their chests are almost pressed together, and they’re close enough to kiss, but he doesn’t, because Cas wouldn’t like that. And Dean realizes that he wants to tell Cas. He wants him to know, whatever the consequence. Love. So red and rash and stupid. So Dean takes a breath and tries to explain. His words come out in a tumbled rush. He hopes to Heaven that Cas understands, that the bond they’ve had since freshman year will pull them through yet another awkward conversation.

“Originally, I asked you to the party because I wanted to show everyone that I’m over Lisa. Which I am. Completely. But I also asked you to the party because I really like you, and I wanted to see what it was like to date you, and I know it’s been really kind of sucky, but I actually do like you and I lied to you this morning. I have…feelings for you, stronger than just friendship. Stronger than a crush. But I thought you didn’t like me back and I’m still not sure but Charlie said and-”

He’s shut up (thankfully) by lips on his.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Happy (late) Holidays!


End file.
